Strong Contingent to Represent India at Davos WEF

India will field a powerful contingent at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in late January. Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Piyush Goyal along with over 100 top corporate leaders will attend the meeting in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandra Babu Naidu will also attend the meet.

Jaitley is expected to address the WEF on how the new Indian leadership is transforming the business, political and social landscape of India. He will be also taking up with global leaders the near-term and long-term priorities of the BRICS block of emerging countries in the context of their trade and investment partnership.

In another session, Jaitley would participate in a discussion on how India as the world's most populous democracy will revive and accelerate economic modernisation, growth and job creation.

Power and coal minister Goyal will speak on how new business models are scaling energy decentralisation and emissions reduction apart from his other engagements.

Meeting against the backdrop of the world economy facing multiple challenges, the 45th edition of the WEF annual meet would discuss 'The New Global Context' as this year's theme.

Issues like terrorism are expected to be taken up in the wake of recent terror attacks in France and other countries.

Among Indian business leaders, those expected at the annual meeting of the rich and powerful from across the world include Tata Group chairman Cyrus Mistry, Reliance Industries Limited chairman Mukesh Ambani, ICICI Bank managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) Chanda Kochhar, Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal, Tata Consultancy Services MD and CEO N. Chandrasekaran and State Bank of India chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya.

Other prominent persons include Bharat Forge's Baba Kalyani, Essar Group's Shashi and Ravi Ruia, and Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka, Wipro chairman Azim Premji and Bharti Enterprises chairman Sunil Mittal. The meet, which would start on January 20 and continue till January 24, will see more than 2,500 corporate and political leaders as also 40 heads of states and governments from across the world.